Aquaculture Areas and Production

   Inland Aquaculture

   Aquaculture Production from Inland (Fresh) Waters

    Inland(Fresh) Water Bodies for Aquaculture

   Unit Output of Different Inland Water Culture System

   Cultured Species in Inland Waters

   Marine Aquaculture

   Cultured Species in Marine Waters

   Production of Different Type of Cultured Species

   Surface Area under Culture in Different Marine Environments

   Productions of Marine Aquaculture from Selected Regions

China has a long history in aquaculture back to 2000 years ago.  Since 1970s,under the reform policies and driven by the economic benefits, the rapid development of China’s aquaculture both in fresh waters and sea waters has been the focus of the world attention.  The total aquaculture areas rose from 2.86 million hectors in 1979 to 5.68 million hectors in 1996, and the production from 1.23 million tons to 15.31 million tons with an annual growth rate of 16%, higher than the rate of total fishery production (11.7%).  According to FAO statistics,between 1990 and 1995, the world aquaculture production increased by 8.91 million tons, of which China contributed 83.6%.  The development of aquaculture has made China’s fishery structure (fishing and aquaculture) totally reversed. The share of fishing and aquaculture was 74 : 26 in 1978, but reversed to 45.6 : 54.4 in 1996.  Currently, China’s aquaculture production are made up 54% of the world total.  The great changes are illustrated on Table 11, Chart 10 and Chart 11.

(Chart 10 covers marine culture, inland culture and total areas. Volume for total starts are 3,000,000 in 1980 and grows to almost 6,000,000 in 1996. Inland grows from 0 to 5,000,000. Marine begins at 0 and climbs to 1,000,000.)

(Chart 11 illustrates aquaculture output in tons. Total output climbs to over 1,500,000 in 1996.)

2.3.1 Inland aquaculture

Inland aquaculture is very important part of China fishery industry.  In 1979, inland aquaculture areas was only 237.8 million hectors and the output 813,000 tons while in 1996, they reached 485.8 million hectors and 10.938 million tons respectively.  So far, there are 17 provinces where the inland aquaculture production has exceeded 100,000 tons.

Pond culture is the most important source  among the inland aquaculture, with an estimated share of 73.9% in 1996.  Most pond culture activities are distributed along the Yangtze River basin and the Pearl River basin covering 7 provinces: Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi and Shandong, where the inland aquaculture output were made up 72.5% of the country’s total in 1996.  In the formerly less developed areas, primarily in the north, northeast and northwest regions, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, Ganshu, Ningxia and Xinjiang, the share of inland aquaculture in the country’s total have grown from 2.8% in 1979 to 9.8% in 1996.  This number is set to increase as the government has been giving full support to help the rural population there get rid of the poverty.  The sector is also important because it comprised areas far from the sea in which the traditional consumption of seafood is low and therefore, increase of freshwater aquaculture is urgent from a nutritional perspective.

Apart from pond fish culture, open-water fish farming contributes most of the remaining output.  Nowadays, Chinese fish farmers not only proceed the intensive culture in pond system but also have employed this skill in the open-waters such as reservoirs, lakes, rivers and channels, by using cages, nets and pens.  The unit output of inland aquaculture increased to 2168 kg/hector in 1996 from 297 kg/hector in 1979, an increment of 1871 kg , about 6.3 times.Table 12 and Chart 12 illustrate the unit output of different culture systems.

 

(Chart 11: Largest growth is in pond culture with average growth overall going from 250 kg up to approx. 2200 kg)

Paddy fish farming, in recent years, has started to get out the small-scale production and developed into an important and growing commercial activity.   It has been receiving increasing attention because with more than 28 million hectors of paddy fields available, there is a huge potential for growth.  In 1996, the paddy areas for fish farming were enlarged to 12.05 million hectors with a total output of 376,800 tons.

The most commonly farmed species are black carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, common carp, crucian carp, Chinese bream, blunt-snout bream, silver chub, mandarin fish, fresh-water shrimp, fresh-water mussel, river-snail, soft-shelled turtle and river crab.  As the economy develops and people’s living standard raises, demand for high-valued species is increasing.  For example, foreign species introduced from abroad are also gaining ground such as tilapia, rainbow trout, paddle-fish, roach, river perch, toad catfish, Collossoma brachypomum etc.  Trials are also being carried out with silver salmon.  However, the share of high-valued species is still low in comparison of those traditional farmed species.  In 1996, the shares of cultured species were proximately as follows:

   silver carp and bighead carp:  38.4%

   grass carp:  22%

   common carp: 14.6%

   Chinese bream and blunt-snout bream: 3.5%

   black carp, fresh-water shrimp and crab: 12.2%

   rainbow trout, river eel, muddy eel, soft-shelled turtle, mandarin fish, Macrobrachium nipponesnsis etc.: 3.1%

2.3.2 Marine Aquaculture

Marine aquaculture has grown rapidly over the last decade.  It is predicted that the marine cultivable areas in China including shallow seas, mud-flats and bays are proximately more than 1.33 million hectors as most artificial cultivation of marine plants and animals can be applied within the 10 m isobath based on the current culture technologies.  However,  the utilization rate was less than 9% before 1980, and the species were mainly kelp, laver (Porphyra) and mussel which accounted for 98% of the total marine culture output volume.  In 1996, the cultivation areas and the output reached 822,000 hectors and 4.38 million tons respectively from 117,000 hectors and 415,900 tons in 1979.

The cultured species have also altered greatly.  Since 1980s, the government has been giving full support to multi-variety marine cultivation, ranging from fish and shrimp to other valuable species, including Penaeus chinensis, mussel, scallop, abalone, sea bream, Tilapia, grouper, Scylla serrata.

As a result, the share in total output of fish, shrimp and other valuable species has risen.

 

(Chart 13: Molluscs 67%; Algae 19%; Crustaceans 12% and Fishes 2%)

(Chart 14: Molluscs 72%; Algae 21%; Fishes 4%; Crustaceans 3%)

The table and charts above indicate that between 1989 and 1996, the output of cultured fishes increased from 36,000 tons to 182,000 tons and the share from 2% to 4%;  output of cultured crustaceans from 190,000 tons decreased to 129,000 tons and the share from 12% to 3%;  output of molluscs increased from 1.06 million tons to 3.15 million tons and the share from 67% to 72%; output of algae increased from 294,000 tons to 914,000 tons and the share from 19% to 21%.  Except crustaceans, other categories rose in both output and the share. 

China used to be the largest producer of cultured shrimp in the world , but has experienced a major setback since 1993 due to the outbreak of viral disease.  The production was 186,000 tons in 1989 but declined to 89,000 tons in 1996.  This was reportedly caused by poor management techniques, including overfeeding, high stocking densities and inadequate maintenance.

In terms of cultured water type, between 1989 and 1996, the areas of shallow sea increased from 25,200 hectors to 114,200 hectors, an increment of 3.5 times;  areas of mud-flat from 266,800 hectors to 533,100 hectors, about doubles;  areas of bay from 131,300 hectors to 174,800 hectors, an increment of 33%.

(Chart 15: Mud-flat has the largest volume in hectares (225,000 up to 525,000 )in time and over time with bay and shallow sea following in volume.)

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